Abraham Lesnik Counterintelligence Case

Counterintelligence - Espionage - Spy Case

Name	LESNIK, Abraham
Employer	Boeing Company Previously worked for Raytheon, Northrop Grumman, Brookhaven National Laboratory
Dates of Employment	Boeing: 2004 to January 2007 (terminated)
Employee Type	Staff
Job Title/Duties	Scientist at Boeing's Space Based Radar group in El Segundo Physicist and engineer for 30 years; expert in high-energy physics Specialized in anti-missile systems plans
Military Rank
Clearance Level	Top Secret, Special Access

Spying For	?
Codename
Spying Dates
Co-conspirators
Methodology	During his employment at Boeing, Lesnik repeatedly brought defense-related classified information from his workplace to his home by using a thumb drive, a small device that plugged into his work computer and allowed him to download information onto the device. He then took the information home with him on that thumb drive. Lesnik accumulated a very large number of classified documents at his residence. He admitted that he unlawfully retained 11 of these documents.
Possible Motivations, Problems
Finances
Identified/ Investigation	FBI opened a criminal investigation into Lesnik in 2006 after questions were raised as to whether or not classified information ended up in the hands of unauthorized individuals, including foreigners. FBI conducted three separate searches of Lesnik's home.
Arrest Date/Location	Charged Monday, 16 June 2008
Charges	Charged with unauthorized possession of 10 classified documents and one top secret document "pertaining to national defense satellite threat mitigation. 18 U.S.C. 793(e): Unlawful Retention of National Defense Information
Court	Central District of California, Los Angeles, CA
Lawyers	Defense: Marc Harris
Status	Pled guilty: 2 July 2008 Sentencing: 8 December 2008 - 3 year Probation and $25,000 Fine

Date/Place of Birth	1940
Citizenship	US
Residences	Hesby Street, Valley Village, California (Los Angeles)
Education	PhD in physics from University of Chicago
Family	Wife Bonnie/Bonita, daughter
Other Employment
Additional Bio	In 2006, Lesnik sued Boeing after a supervisor seized his laptop computer because he was accessing the Internet Web site Mapquest during an office meeting. He challenged the confiscation of his laptop on grounds that it contained personal information on his wife and four children and argued that Boeing's policies permitted use of the computer. The computer was later turned over to the FBI

Documents	Former Boeing Engineer Pleads Guilty to Taking Classified Documents From Work to His Home (DOJ press release, 2 July 2008) USA v Abraham Lesnik
Quotes	"The government has established very strict rules to protect its secrets to protect our national security. Dr. Lesnik violated these important secrecy rules on a regular basis, which compromised the system established to protect the United States."-- United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien. "The FBI places a high priority on investigations into compromised classified information, as well as any violation of the law by those entrusted with following rules designed to protect documents related to our national defense."--Salvador Hernandez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI in Los Angeles,
Case Links	Enhanced Target and Clutter Separation by Sensor and Data Fusion By Abraham Lesnik, Northrop Grumman Abstract: In developing systems whose purpose it is to protect aircraft from missile attack, an important problem is the detection and tracking of small missiles, where the missiles approach the aircraft at high speed, and in a high clutter environment. The goals are to: (1) detect the presence of a missile, (2) correctly identify the missile (and in particular not mistake a missile for clutter), and (3) track and jam the missile effectively. This paper discusses goal (2), describing improvements in the ability to separate IR targets from clutter, due to employment of sensor and data fusion. These techniques are utilized in conjunction with more standard techniques which are specific to individual sensors, including matched filtering (spatial or spectral), windowing, gating, integration, and adaptive thresholding. (1999)
BOOKS

News:

Correction: Scientist Lesnik sentencing story

In a Dec. 8 story, The Associated Press misreported a comment made in court by former Boeing aerospace engineer Abraham Lesnik during his sentencing for taking classified documents home in a thumb drive. Lesnik said he was a workaholic. He did not say he had a drinking problem……(ModBee, 10 Dec 08)

Former Boeing engineer Abraham Lesnik to get probation, fine in documents case

A former Boeing aerospace engineer was sentenced Monday in federal court to three years probation and a $25,000 fine for taking classified documents from his employer's El Segundo plant. Abraham Lesnik, 62, who specialized in aircraft anti-missile systems for Boeing, pleaded guilty in July to one felony count of unauthorized possession of defense information. Before sentencing, U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper, in Los Angeles, said Lesnik clearly had no intention of selling the information or showing it to anyone else. In a tearful apology, Lesnik admitted he had a drinking problem at the time of the thefts… The FBI began investigating Lesnik in 2006 after suspicion arose that classified information involving defense systems was possibly ending up in the possession of unauthorized people. According to Lesnik's plea agreement, he had classified documents and writings at his Valley Village home instead of turning them over to a federal officer or employee, as required by law. Lesnik, who has a doctorate in physics, held a U.S. Defense Department security clearance for elements of work he was doing with Boeing, Goodman said. Lesnik repeatedly brought large numbers of classified documents home in his computer's thumb drive, a tiny storage device, Goodman said. The indictment zeroed in on 11 documents -- all of which were either marked "secret" or "top secret,"... Included among the classified papers was a top-secret document pertaining to "national defense satellite threat mitigation," court papers state.

Before he was placed on three years' probation and ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, Lesnik faced a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine. "He brought it on himself," Harris said……(Daily Breeze, 8 Dec 08)

Lesnik Gets Probation

The curious case of Abraham Lesnik, which I wrote about previously here and here, has ended with the ex-Boeing scientist being sentenced to three years probation, according to Lesnik's attorney. Lesnik was accused of using a thumb drive to bring about 2000 classified documents to his home… Lesnik probably benefited from his case being assigned to Judge Cooper, who saw first-hand the relatively lenient sentences the government agreed to in cases involving arguably far more serious breaches of the rules for handling classified information. I have in mind the cases involving senior FBI agent J.J. Smith and Katrina Leung, a longtime informant who later became a suspected double agent for China. Judge Cooper became a nightmare for the government when she dismissed the Leung case, citing a constitutional violation. That ruling led to the rather weak sentence Leung received. So, not the judge a prosecutor, especially on this kind of case, would want to draw. Lesnik probably also benefited from his attorneys' unusually exhaustive research into prior criminal cases involving mishandling of classified information……(Blog Spot, 8 Dec 08)

A scientist allegedly took home a giraffe’s worth of classified documents. Should he get four years in prison?

Former Boeing aerospace engineer Abraham Lesnik is in some very good company. On Monday afternoon, the 62-year-old physicist is to go before a federal judge in Los Angeles to be sentenced for taking classified information home without permission. The list of those who have owned up to similar transgressions reads like a who’s who of the top ranks of America’s national security establishment. They include former attorney general Alberto Gonzales, former CIA director John Deutch, and former national security adviser Sandy Berger. Each of those powerful men escaped without jail time for their misdeeds. So why, then, is the Justice Department throwing the book at the lowly Boeing engineer by asking for a whopping four-year prison term? The request is turning heads in the legal community, where some see it as wildly out of line with more modest punishments imposed on the high-flyers also caught being cavalier with America’s secrets. Some observers say links to Israel could also have heightened suspicions… The crime carries a potential of ten years in prison, but the defense and prosecution remain sharply at odds over an appropriate sentence. Lesnik’s lawyer cited a raft of cases where famous classified information violators skated by with a slap on the wrist, or less……(Blog Spot, 4 Dec 08)

Abraham Lesnik Secrets Case Called a Puzzle

The Justice Department's unusually tough stand against a California aerospace engineer who kept a trove of classified information at his home is prompting puzzlement and speculation about whether something more nefarious was afoot or whether prosecutors are heralding a new era in the treatment of those who are cavalier with America's secrets. Abraham Lesnik, 62, of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty last week to a single felony count of unauthorized possession of classified information, which he took home from his job at a Boeing facility in El Segundo, Calif. Lawyers and other experts who track the government's actions in such cases were taken aback by the prosecution's indication that it may seek a prison term of more than five years…Prosecutors seeking a tough sentence for Lesnik are expected to cite the case of a National Security Agency analyst, Kenneth Ford Jr., who was convicted by a jury of taking two boxes of classified documents home on his last day of work. Ford, who blamed an FBI informant and suggested a conspiracy, was sentenced to seven years in prison. Another puzzling aspect of the Lesnik prosecution is the sheer amount of effort the government has invested. Soon after Lesnik sued Boeing in 2006 in a dispute over private information on a laptop the company confiscated, the scientist's home was put under rather obtrusive surveillance by the FBI……(New York Sun, 10 Jul 08)

Boeing Engineer is found guilty

A former Boeing engineer pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking classified defense documents from his employer's El Segundo plant to his home in Valley Village. Abraham Lesnik, 62, who specialized in aircraft anti-missile systems for Boeing, pleaded guilty to one felony count of unauthorized possession of defense information. "I brought classified documents from my workplace to my home so I could work on them," Lesnik told U.S. District Judge Florence-Marie Cooper......(Daily Breeze, 2 Jul 08)

Scientist enters guilty plea in Boeing documents case

A former Boeing Co. scientist pleaded guilty to taking secret documents home from work without authorization, federal prosecutors in Los Angeles said.....(Los Angeles Times, 4 Jul 08)

A spy case? Or a case of govt. overkill?

In Los Angeles federal court yesterday, Abraham Lesnik, a former Boeing defense scientist was charged with improperly retaining sensitive security information by Federal prosecutors. His attorney Marc Harris accompanied Lesnik who was present for his arraignment. He was given a trial date of August 12th and processed by US Marshals at the courthouse.....(ERS News, 17 Jun 08)

Former Boeing scientist charged in defense probe

A former Boeing Co. scientist who specialized in anti-missile systems plans to plead guilty to unlawfully retaining national defense information, his attorney said. Abraham Lesnik, 68, was charged Monday, nearly two years after a federal investigation into whether he misused classified information, prosecutors said. He could receive up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted.....(AP, 16 June 08)

Boeing Scientist Charged with Mishandling Govt Info

A former Boeing scientist who specialized in anti-missile systems for aircrafts was charged in federal court today with the unlawful retention of national defense information. Abraham Lesnik will plead guilty to the charge, his lawyer Marc Harris told ABCNews.com. Agents in the FBI's foreign intelligence unit opened a criminal investigation into Lesnik in 2006 after questions were raised as to whether or not classified information ended up in the hands of unauthorized individuals, including foreigners.....(ABC News, 16 Jun 08)

Secret Law Enforcement Unit Disappears from LA Neighborhood

The FBI's civilian "law enforcement" surveillance unit has apparently abandoned their watchful eye over Boeing defense scientist Abraham Lesnik. ERSNews exclusively reported a story late last week about the case and the ongoing surveillance of the Los Angeles defense scientist at his suburban Valley Village home. The FBI apparently decided, at least for now, that the ERSNews media coverage was enough for them and they pulled their van and civilians that were watching the house last week. The surveillance has been obvious to neighbors and others and has stood out for months on end since 2006. According to knowledgeable sources, the FBI may not have left the area and could be living close by in another local residence. Although the FBI seemingly left before, only to return later, just how "covert" they plan to be remains to be seen.......(ERS News, 4 Sept 07)

FBI PROBES LAPTOP DATA

The FBI has launched a criminal investigation into a Boeing Co. scientist over the handling of top-secret data, authorities said Thursday. Abraham Lesnik, listed as an employee at Boeing's Space Based Radar group in El Segundo, has been the subject of three searches of his Valley Village home, the FBI confirmed. The investigation stems from classified information found on a laptop computer used by Lesnik that was confiscated by Boeing, then turned over to the FBI…The investigation began when Boeing security officers confiscated Lesnik's company-furnished laptop earlier this year, citing potential misuse of the equipment, said court documents filed by Lesnik in a suit seeking return of the computer. A source told the Daily News that a supervisor had caught Lesnik surfing the Internet during a business meeting, then confiscated the computer, which contained classified information. The scientist sued, demanding Boeing return the laptop because it contained personal information about him and his family. A judge sided with Boeing, which then turned the laptop over to the FBI…..(Free Library, 20 Oct 06)

FBI Investigating SoCal Boeing Scientist

FBI foreign counterintelligence agents are investigating a Southern California Boeing scientist for allegedly mishandling classified material. A lawyer for scientist Abraham Lesnik said the FBI conducted three searches of his client's home in Valley Village. FBI investigators said they're examining Lesnik's Boeing laptop amid suspicion that unauthorized individuals, including foreigners, have gotten a hold of classified data……(AP, 19 Oct 06)

FBI Investigating Boeing Scientist

Agents in the FBI's foreign counterintelligence unit have opened a criminal investigation into the handling of classified material by a senior scientist at Boeing. The scientist, Abraham Lesnik, of suburban Los Angeles, works in the development of anti-missile systems for aircraft and holds a Department of Defense security clearance of Secret, Special Access, according to his resume filed in court papers. The FBI has conducted three separate searches of Lesnik's home in Valley Village, Calif., according to Lesnik's lawyer, Marc Harris......(ABC News, 19 Oct 2006)